Hedging variety.

marcuslhjones

Morning all. I am not a naturally green fingered gardener and need some help deciding on a hedge type for a 20m stretch along the boundary of our garden. It is currently a fence and needs to be secure as we have young children and it borders a road. It is well protected, will get decent sunlight, has good drainage and is in clay-ish soil. We need the hedge to give us privacy all year round (so must be evergreen) and would eventually like it to grow to about 6ft tall. Initiially we liked the look of the Red Robin, however, they do sometimes seem a bit "leggy" and not all that dense. Maybe these are just the ones I've seen and I could plant them closer together. Alternatively, I like the look of the Pittosporum Tenuifolium. Although they seem to be much more expensive and look like they will take a long time to grow to 6 feet in height. I am open to all other ideas, I'm not so keen on beech hedges and would like something bright and interesting. Thanks in advance. Marcus.

Fairygirl

Hi @marcuslhjones. It can be diffiuclt choosing an evergreen if you want it to be bright and interesting, as many of them aren't! In lighter soil, Escallonia would have been good, but clay is an excellent growing medium, so as long as you prep the area well, I think it would be a good choice. 
If you don't mind something jaggy, Pyracantha and Berberis make great evergreen hedges [some Berberis aren't evergreen though, so always check the variety]  and also provide good conditions and  food for wildlife.
Good old privet [Ligustrum] is also ideal. 
All hedging will take a few years to be a good height, and thicken up, but it will quickly become a nice screen. We're approaching the time of year for bare root hedging plants too - so check out good suppliers online, as it is far less expensive than buying potted plants, and they also establish quickly. 

marcuslhjones

Thank you fairygirl, I’ll have a look at those varieties. We’re happy to wait a couple of years for it to get to full height as hopefully it’ll be there for a long time to come. 

Fairygirl

Just had a thought about the Pittosporum - some varieties aren't hardy everywhere in the UK, so if you go for that, just check your local conditions and climate before shelling out  
There's also Holly [Ilex] to add to the list